THE KINGS OF CASINO PARK Black Baseball in the Lost Season of 1932

The Negro baseball leagues that flourished before Jackie Robinson integrated the game in 1947 have a long and storied history. This book delves deeply into the 1932 season of the Monroe (Louisiana) Monarchs, one of the league's best teams, which operated in one of the most racist areas of the South. Narrator Claton Butcher, who has a low, clear voice, pauses to let the facts sink in and varies his pitch as necessary. He doesn't create any characters, letting his natural voice move the story along. However, his tendency to enunciate every word impedes the story's flow and causes the listener to lose the book's larger picture. The result sounds more like an academic treatise than the fascinating account of black baseball the author intended. R.I.G. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine [Published: MAY 2013]